Health services reforms in revolutionary Nicaragua

Abstract

Before the Nicaraguan revolution of 1979, access to health services was largely limited to the affluent sectors of the urban population and the minority of workers with social security coverage. Repeated attempts at reform by organized medicine were ineffective. Since the revolution, a tremendous expansion in health services has occurred. The national health system receives approximately one-third of its funds from the social security system. Steadily increasing equity in access is a result of the promotion of primary care, health campaigns involving up to 10 per cent of the general population as volunteers, the use of paramedical aides, and foreign assistance. Private practice nevertheless remains strong. In the coming years, several complex issues must be examined, including: a balance in the number of nurses and doctors trained, the role of private practice, and the relationship of the Ministry of Health to the social security system. Further progress in health reforms may be delayed by the defensive war which Nicaragua is fighting on its northern and southern borders. Despite emergent health problems in the war zones, most of the innovative aspects of the health system remain intact as of this writing.